Delayed transfers causing hold ups

Soaring numbers of blocked beds continue to disrupt the NHS in England – despite figures suggesting it may be starting to recover after a challenging start to the year.

Delayed transfers of care caused 167,677 days’ worth of hold ups in April, the second highest on record. This was only slightly less than the record number of 169,928 the previous month, according to new figures from NHS England.

Joined-up care

However, demand on frontline emergency services eased in April, allowing emergency departments to see 90% of patients within the four-hour target for the first time this year, up from 87.3% in March but still 5 percentage points short of the national 95% target.

An NHS England spokesperson said: ‘These figures underline the importance of joined-up care in the NHS and the dependence of hospitals on well-functioning social care servicess.’